Some Cool pizza street art

As seen along St. Mark's Place.

Revisit our Cool archives here. 

Thanks to Eden for the photo!

Openings: Pizza Pazzo on 1st Street

There's a new pizza option on First Street.

Pizza Pazzo is now open at 70 E. First St. here between First Avenue and Second Avenue...

The shop, with a few seats for dining in, offers a variety of slices, starting at $3, whole pies and pasta dishes. Find the pizzeria's website here.

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., with an 11 p.m. close on Fridays and Saturdays.

Let us know if you try it!

The small storefront was previously part of Pinky's Space. Cafe La Fe is also at the address next door. 

Noted

Photo by Steven 

Yesterday we noted the arrival of the Mr. [$1.50] Pizza signage at 186 First Ave. 

As you can see, the $1.50 is now taped over. Perhaps the price was meant to be a surprise. Or maybe they've already decided to change the price. Or maybe this is the work of some tape vandals/bandits.

Mr. Pizza ready to announce himself on 1st Avenue

We were just wondering whatever happened to Mr. Pizza... the coming-soon signage had disappeared from outside 186 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street. (H/T Steven!)

And just like that, this morning, Mr. Pizza (or maybe Mr. $1.50 Pizza) is ready to be installed on the storefront. (The interior still has a ways to go.)

Anyway, as you guessed, this will be another discount pizza shop once it opens. 

This is the first business for the retail space since Handsome Dan's Snocone & Candy Stand closed here between 11th Street and 12th Street in September 2018. 

In early October 2018, a six-alarm fire next door at 188 First Ave. caused extensive damage to the surrounding properties ... and the residential spaces at No. 186 and No. 188 remain without tenants. 

Hello Lollo: Pizzeria signage alert at 27 Avenue B

Photo by Stacie Joy

Signage went up late last week for Lollo, the incoming restaurant-pizzeria at 27 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. 

As we first reported in April, a group of partners originally from Northern Italy are behind the new establishment, serving a variety of pasta dishes as well as brick-oven pizzas. (BTW: Lollo is short for Lorenzo, the chef and one of the partners.) 

No word just yet on an opening date. If you're on Instagram, they have a placeholder account here.

The space was previously home to Solo Pizza, which closed following a rent hike in September 2022 after 15 years in business.

As multiple readers have pointed out, this is a pretty pizza-heavy corridor now between Third Street and down Clinton... last week, we first reported about the new venture from Luigi Iasilli, owner of the well-liked Max restaurant, who's opening Potenza Centrale at 38 Avenue B... and Luzzo's made a May 2022 debut at 15 Avenue B. 

The owner of Max restaurant is returning to Avenue B with a new pizzeria

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Luigi Iasilli, owner of the well-liked Max restaurant, which closed 10 years ago at 51 Avenue B, is back on the block with a new venture — Potenza Centrale. 

The pizza shop, coming soon to 38 Avenue B (site of the former KC Gourmet Empanadas) between Third Street and Fourth Street, is named in honor of the town in Italy where he was born and raised.

The pizzeria will feature square slices from a rectangular pie, as well as round pizzas, notably different from the Roman style due to the extra fermentation process. Iasilli said it takes up to five days to ferment the highly hydrated dough, and it's folded and worked to be airier and lighter than traditional dough. 

Iasilli, who's no longer involved with Max, which had several locations, also wants to add baked gnocchi, pastas like lasagna or rigatoni, and eggplant parm topped with housemade mozzarella. Each day will feature specials — one meat and one vegetarian, listed Italian-style on the chalkboard walls. 

In addition, Iasilli plans to sell his homemade sauce to go (he welcomes folks to bring their own jars that he can fill) and balls of fresh mozzarella. He's currently working on focaccia and other styles of bread. When I asked him about the possibility of dessert, he mentioned reprising the famed tiramisu from Max. 

As for an opening, he has yet to set a date; the space is waiting on ConEd approval and the meter installation. 

Here's Iasilli with Chef Alex Chavarria ...

As for returning to this block of Avenue B, he says: "I am coming full circle."

Pizza signage update on 9th Street

At last look, there was coming soon signage for an establishment called *******Pizza at 105 E. Ninth St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. 

That was apparently just a pizza placeholder ... as there's now signage up for the actual business name — Nuovo York Pizza, aka "New York Style."

No word yet on an opening date.

This space has been vacant since Toasted Deli went dark at the end of 2022 after nearly 18 months in business. 

Just another *******Pizza place

An establishment called *******Pizza is next up for 105 E. Ninth St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, per the coming-soon signage on the gate. (Thanks to MP for the photo!)

We're not sure if this is the actual name of the pizzeria... or if the seven asterisks are a mistake. Or a placeholder?

Anyway! This space has been vacant since Toasted Deli went dark at the end of 2022 after nearly 18 months in business. 

Openings: Saint Pizza on Avenue B

Saint Pizza has debuted at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street. (First reported here.)

EVG reader Jake Bowling shared these photos and a quick assessment: "A pretty good slice place has opened ... they also sell cannoli and 7-layer cake. Nice people!"

A regular slice starts at $3.50 ... and there are heaven-themed pies, like the Blessed, a Margherita pizza with vodka sauce, pesto and mozzarella... 

For now, their daily hours are 11 a.m. to midnight... the placeholder website is here.

Funzi's Pizzeria next for 36 St. Mark's Place

Signage is up at 36 St. Mark's Place for the next quick-serve tenant — Funzi's Pizzeria.

We need to find out who the operators are...  as well as the opening date. The signage simply states, "Funzi Hath Arrived."

This was a quick turnover at the address between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast just closed here at the end of February.

Funzi's marks the seventh food concept at No. 36 — Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast, Joe's Steam Rice Roll, Cheers Cut, Friterie Belgian Fries, Fasta and the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza — since 2015. 

Incoming 99-cent pizza shop now with 99-cent pizza signage

A variety of signage has arrived outside the incoming 99-cent pizza spot at 418 E. 14th St. just east of First Avenue.

As previously noted, this may reset the bargain pizza market... as inflation forced other local cheap-slice merchants to up the price by 51 cents to $1.50.

No word on an opening date here.  

Signage alert: Saint Pizza on Avenue B

Photo by Stacie Joy

Signage arrived last week for Saint Pizza at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street.

We mentioned last month that a pizzeria was taking over the former Subway (sandwich shop) here.

Hopefully, it will offer a solid slice/pie for after a visit to Mona's across the street.

Will post more details about the operators when that info becomes available.  

The return of 99-cent pizza?!

Signage is up for a 99-cent pizza spot at 418 E. 14th St. just east of First Avenue along a stretch known for street vendors selling items of dubious quality and origins. 

If this price holds, then it would mark the return of a 99-cent pizza joint. Thanks to inflationary food costs, in late 2021 and early 2022,  the neighborhood's discount slicerias uniformly raised prices by 51 cents and became $1.50 pizzerias.

The storefront was previously a spa specializing in eyebrows and waxing.

Pizza for the former Subway (sandwich shop) on Avenue B

The former Subway (sandwich shop) at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street has a new tenant.

A worker helping renovate the storefront told EVG correspondent Stacie Joy that a pizzeria is coming soon here... 

Not sure at the moment what kind of pizza we're talking about... more upscale pies and slices or the ubiquitous 99-cent $1.50 variety.

The Subway outpost was here for nearly nine years before going dark in 2020.

Signage alert: Pizza Loves Sauce coming to East Houston

Signage is up for Pizza Loves Sauce at 147 E. Houston St. between Eldridge and Forsyth.

Not sure who's behind the pizzeria at the moment. The shop's website describes it as "a New York Style Pizzeria." There's an Instagram account here for updates. 

The space (once part of Lucky's Famous Burgers!) was previously an outpost of Il Mattone.

That 99-cent slice of pizza will now cost you $1.50

As you may have recently noticed, the price of 99-cent pizza has crept up to $1.50 at neighborhood slice joints... with $1.50 signage covering the 99 cents pricing ...

This was an expected increase ... with media reports dating back to the late fall warning of an uptick thanks to inflationary food costs, the global supply-chain crisis and national labor shortage. Per the Times on Dec. 22: "The $1 Pizza Slice Becomes Inflation's Latest Victim." 

Abdul Muhammad, owner of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza, the eight-location chain in Manhattan, told The Guardian last December that the continued rise in costs may force him to raise his slice prices for the first time since opening in 2001.

"I have to think about it because my customers, many of them unemployed and struggling to make rent, can't afford to pay more," he said. 

Of course, the price of a slice has gone up across the board. 

As Bloomberg reported earlier this month:

The "pizza principle," a mainstay of New York economics for more than four decades, states that a slice of cheese pizza will always be the same price as a subway ride. 

The rule has largely held true since first conjectured in the New York Times in 1980, with any increase in pizza prices tending to predict a matching hike in public-transit fares. 

Not anymore. Prices for plain slices are soaring above $3 throughout the city along with commodity and labor costs. With the Metropolitan Transportation Authority freezing fares at $2.75, the gap between the price of riding downtown and satisfying late-night hunger pangs is growing quickly.

[Updated] Pizza Girls coming soon to Avenue B

Coming soon signage arrived late last week on the SE corner of Avenue B and Second Street for Pizza Girls (thanks to Salim for the pics!)

We don't know anything just yet about the incoming business (other than the name!). Checking for more info. Update! "Pizza Girls" is a reality TV series about women in the pizza business in Italy. A new season will apparently be filmed here. Follow them on Instagram for more. Filming is expected to start this spring. (Thanks to Matt for the tip.) 

Here's more via an interview with series director Carlo Fumo (this Q&A is from a year ago, and some of the info may be outdated now):

You told me the tv format is also destined for a foreign market: you mentioned the United States, where you regularly go for the movie festival you organize. What kind of interest are you expecting abroad?

We’ll probably see a Pizza Girls USA already in 2021. And we will shoot it on location, in a pizzeria in the heart of Manhattan that will be named after the show. It is a topic of interest for other countries: pizza is a universal brand, earning large profits around the world. It's a wonderful thing, the same way, I always say, women are the wonder of our world: these two things together guarantee a powerful project. That's why we wanted to talk with the foreign market from the beginning. The format will be the same, of course, it will adapt to the country, based on the audience's taste in terms of TV and pizza.

This corner space was home to the Wafels & Dinges cafe (and corporate office) for nearly eight years. W&D, which still operates from kiosks and food trucks around the city, moved out last March.

Tony's Pizza will be Famous on 1st Avenue

Tony's Pizza opened in early June at 128 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

As we've noted, a second Tony's Pizza is coming to 231 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. As you can see with the recently installed signage, this will be a Tony's Famous Pizza (not sure at the moment what the difference is between the two locations).

Our pizza sources say that these pizzerias are affiliated with Antonio's Pizza Cafe on Court Street in Brooklyn. (Their description of a Fugheddaboudit Pizza matches exactly with the one at the Court Street location.) Antonio's owner (and Brooklyn native) Sal Casaccio also operated Tony's Famous Pizzeria.

Tony's is taking over the storefront from Vinny Vincenz, which quietly closed in April.

Openings: Marinara Pizza debuts on 2nd Avenue

As we've been reporting (like here and here), Marinara Pizza is coming to the northeast corner of Second Avenue at 10th Street.

And yesterday was the pizzeria's opening day (thanks to Nick Solares for the pic!) at 160 Second Ave.

As noted before: An EVG reader told us that their most popular slice is the MVP, which features stripes of marinara sauce, vodka sauce and pesto on a square pie (the pic is from the Marinara social media) ...

For now, their hours are daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find the menu here.

This is the fifth outpost for Marinara, which has locations on the UES, UWS, Midtown East and Park Avenue South. 

H/T Steven

Tony's Pizza debuts on 2nd Avenue

The outpost of Tony's Pizza is up and slinging slices now at 128 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place... Steven stopped by yesterday for these photos...

You can check out the menu here. We're told that this pizzeria is affiliated with Antonio's Pizza Cafe on Court Street in Brooklyn. (Their description of a Fugheddaboudit Pizza matches exactly with the one at the Court Street location.) Antonio's owner (and Brooklyn native) Sal Casaccio also operated Tony's Famous Pizzeria.

This is the first of two Tony's for the East Village. Signage is up now for a Tony's Pizza at 231 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street — the former Vinny Vincenz, which closed in April.

Previously

H/T Steven and Upper West Sider!